Shirley Wells, a resident in the 3000 block of Eagle Bluff Drive NE, said she was looking forward to checking into the facility for a membership.

The area has a large elderly population, she said, and it seemed like a good idea to have an option in the area to get everyone motivated.

"I mean, anywhere they put (the YMCA), someone's going to have a problem with it," Wells said. "I just think this area doesn't have anything."

The permit was defeated in a 4-to-2 vote Tuesday evening by the township's planning commission. Approval would have allowed a two-story, 118,500-square-foot facility with outdoor athletic fields. A 22-acre parcel at the intersection of Crahen Avenue and Leonard Street was targeted as its new site.

Officials ultimately considered whether the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids proposal would fit in an area zoned suburban residential. Commissioner Beverly Wall previously said the size of the facility would not be harmonious with the neighborhood and ultimately would not fit with the township's master plan.

"We have to follow those rules and regulations and apply them equally to everyone, no matter how noble a cause the Y is," township Supervisor Michael Devries said.

Krista Gipson and her husband, Matt, residents in the 1800 block of Flowers Mill Drive, said they wanted to start working out, and the YMCA would have been in the perfect location. However, Gipson said her husband was able to access a discounted membership elsewhere.

Still, it's a bummer, she said.

"I was looking forward to it and at least being able to see what they had to offer," Krista Gipson said.

Leonard Street resident Hank Fuhs had been an outspoken critic of the move, saying the street already was too busy and threatened the safety of children at the schools in that area.

A letter signed by several people who live in the area said the addition of a YMCA in the area would be a "guaranteed death trap" on the roadway with thousands of households using the facility.

Calls to Fuhs went unreturned. Area resident Nancy Rasch said she didn't live close enough to the site, but could see how traffic could pose an issue for those nearby.